


Don't be sad (I'll hold you real close)

by ac0531



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, F/M, Kissing, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Some hurt/comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:55:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26681767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ac0531/pseuds/ac0531
Summary: Rayla knew that moonshadow elves were trained to show no fear, but when it came to water, she would let her emotions get the better of her and stay away from it.But one day, when she’s at a pool with Callum and Ezran, she decides to try and conquer this fear with the help of her boyfriend.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 65





	Don't be sad (I'll hold you real close)

**Author's Note:**

> Came up with this idea when chatting on discord, and it somehow wormed it's way into a small one shot.

Rayla smiled as she watched Callum, her boyfriend, splash around with his younger brother Ezran in the pool waters, laughing as he tried to dunk him. 

Ezran kept avoiding him, yelling that he didn’t want to be dragged underwater, but Callum ignored him as he swam after him constantly, trying to grab hold of him and take him down.

It was a bright, sunny day, and Rayla sat peacefully on a lounge chair, watching the two humans before her laughing as they horsed around. She sighed to herself as she felt her skin absorb the heat from the sun, basking in it as she had one a simple lavender colored-bathing suit.

Callum had called her 2 hours ago, asking if she wanted to come hang out with him and Ezran at the pool near their home. Rayla was a little hesitant at first, but soon agreed, quickly telling her dads before slipping on her swimsuit and putting on some casual clothe wear.

When she met them at poolside, Ezran was already in while Callum was stripping down to his swim trunks.

Of course, Rayla had to take a moment to marvel at her boyfriends toned biceps, slightly defined abdominal muscles, and warm emerald eyes that greeted her with such passion. 

It had been 3 years since they had gotten together, and Rayla had to admit that Callum had come a long way with developing his body. At first, he was lanky, but still adorable, but now, he had aged up, maturing while he put work into his body.

The end result- a handsome young man that made her fall for him all the time, even if they were dating now.

After a brief hug and quick kiss, Callum divided in, joining Ezran while Rayla sat herself on a lounge chair, deciding to bask in the sun while watching her boyfriend splash around with his little brother.

Tilting her head back, Rayla shut her eyes, running a hand through hair as she felt her legs, arms and face soak up the sunlight, but soon cracked an eye open when she heard Callum laughing again, finally grabbing his little brother and taking him underwater.

"Callum!!" Ezran shrieked when he reemerged, his afro falling down completely. "Look what you did to me hair!"

His older brother merely burst out laughing, clutching his stomach as Ezran shoved him away. However, Rayla could make out the slight smile appearing on the young boys face as he began to splash Callum.

"You're going to pay for that!" 

Callum, seeing the playful invite from his younger brother, decided to be as dramatic as possible. "Ohhh...help! An angry brother is going to hunt me down...someone, anybody..help!!" He put a hand dramatically over his chest as he was sprayed by water from Ezran, who laughed.

Seeing the sight before her made Rayla's heart swell. 

Oh how she wished she could just join them.

But her fear of water made that almost impossible, and she hated it.

Sometimes she wished she would not be so afraid of water, since it made her feel upset that Callum was out there enjoying himself while she sat from a far distance.

Eventually, Callum turned to face his elven girlfriend, smiling a he waved at her. Allowing a warm smile of her own to tug at her lips, Rayla waved back, watching as he ruffled Ezran’s hair a bit before walking over to her. He soon emerged from the waters, wearing nothing but a simple pair of swimming trunks.

“Hey.” He smiled as he sat down next to her, still dripping wet

“Hi.” She smiled back softly, but soon scooted away when he inched himself closer to her. “Woah there Callum, what did I tell ya about keepin' your distance from me when wet?"

“Aww come on Rayla.” Callum pretended to pout. “That means I can't hug or kiss my girlfriend.”

“Well…ya can still hold my hand.” She smirked a little, offering her hand out to Callum, who happily took it in his, fitting his five fingers with her four. 

They smiled at each other, before turning their heads back to Ezran, who was still splashing around and enjoying himself.

“That looks like so much fun.” Rayla sighed.

“It is…I really wish you could join us.”

Rayla silently nodded her head, but also felt a little upset with herself. As a Moonshadow elf, she had been trained from a very young age to not be afraid of anything. Whenever she was confronted with something, she had to be headstrong and face it, not backing down. However, when it came to water, it was as if she would forget everything that was taught to her about not displaying fear.

She knew it was a sign of weakness in her kind, and she didn’t want that. She tried countless times to get over it, but it never worked. Even with Callum’s continuous support in trying to help her, she still couldn’t bring herself to get comfortable with being in water for more than 3 minutes.

But she still had hope for herself, even if it was small.

And maybe…she could still do it...

Taking a deep breath, she turned to face her boyfriend, who was still busy looking at Ezran. “Callum?”

He turned to look at her, raising a brow. “Yes?”

“I..uhh…I want to go in.”

Callum was a little surprised by what she just said. “Are you sure. I mean, you know you are-“

“I know…but…I want to give it a try, see if I can do it…”

Even though Callum still felt hesitant, he soon smiled and nodded his head, helping Rayla stand up as she took another deep breath. She began to slowly walk to where the pool started, watching as the shallow waves of water lightly splashed against the concrete floor. She felt Callum take her hand in his, and turned to see him giving her an encouraging smile. 

Feeling a little more confident now, Rayla tentatively put a foot in, almost recoiling when she felt the cool water splash slightly against her toes.

“Well?” Callum asked. 

“It’s…it’s ok.” She gave a small smile at him and began to walk in more, moving her hands to Callum’s arm to hold onto him as the water rose to her knees. 

The deeper she advanced, the more she felt her heart rate pick up and her breathing quickened slightly. Callum noticed this, and wanted to say something to her, but didn’t as she furrowed her eyebrows and kept going, taking one slow step after the other.

The water soon lapped at her midsection, and she felt her blood freeze out of fear. Her nails began to tighten slightly into Callum’s arm and he stopped.

“Rayla, we don’t have to go further."

“N-No…it’s ok Callum…I’ll just keep lookin' at you…” She continued walking, but her grip began to get more tighter as the water level rose a little more beyond her middle.

“You’re doing amazing, Rayla.” Her boyfriend told her encouragingly. “We’re almost to neck-level, you can do it.”

For a moment, she felt she was doing it. 

She felt like she was finally going to conquered her fear of water and finally be rid of her weakness.

Until...

“CANONBALL!!!” 

Callum looked to see Ezran running from the side, jumping and landing hard in the water with a loud ’splash’. The force of his impact caused larges amounts of water to splash everywhere. There was also a large ripple, which caused a wave of water to splash against Rayla’s backside. Feeling this, the elf to let out a loud squeak of horror and she practically jumped onto Callum, her legs tightening hard around his waist while her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. She buried her face deep into the crook of her neck, her horns lightly bumping against his lower jaw.

Callum was taken back by this, but soon wrapped his arms tightly around her back, keeping a strong and protective hold on his girlfriend as he laughed slightly.

“Didn’t see that one coming.” He grinned as his younger brother came up, quickly mouthing ’sorry’ before swimming away. “Maybe we should have told Ezran tha-"

But he suddenly stopped when he felt wetness on his neck. Wetness that wasn’t from water splashing him or dripping off him.

Tears…

“Rayla?” Callum’s grin was replaced with one of concern, and he watched as the elf pulled away from him slightly, her head looking down. “What’s wrong?” He brought a hand up to lift her chin, seeing visible tears trailing down her cheeks.

“I-I’m sorry Callum…” Her voice broke, and more tears started to fall. “I-I can’t do it…I can’t…”

“Hey, hey…” He began to wipe away the tears, his heart shattering at seeing his girlfriend like this. “Rayla, it’s ok…”

“No...no it isn’t Callum. Don’t ya see?” She raised her voice, but soon regretted it. “Moonshadow elves aren’t supposed to show fear. We are trained to be stone cold, not flinchin' from even the slightest of things.” 

“Rayla…” Callum walked back a bit until they were in shallow water, yet Rayla still clung tightly to Callum, sniffling and whimpering. “It’s ok to be scared of things.”

“No Callum!” She had to bite back a wave of tears that were threatening to break the dam. “All my life I had this stupid fear, even when I trained under Runaan as a wee girl. I wanted to get rid of it…so that I didn't have any weakness…but…” Her voice cracked. “…but it’s no use…"

She was now close to full on sobbing, and Callum made the decision of gently pressing his lips onto her forehead, before kissing away the tears that cascaded down her cheeks. 

“Rayla, even if you are afraid of something, that doesn’t stop you from being who you are.” 

“W-What?”

“You don’t have to keep living by the book of what others expect from you. So you have a fear of water? That doesn’t change who are you are.”

She sniffed, her lilac eyes still glassy from almost crying. “R-Really…ya think that?"

“Yes.” His tone was firm, but also gentle. “Rayla, you’re the kindest, bravest, coolest, and most incredible person in this world. Even if you have a slight fear in water, so what? Forget that you are a Moonshadow elf that was trained to not show fear, you are Rayla.” He softly pressed his lips into hers, and she froze for a second, but soon reciprocated, running a hand through his dripping hair. “And do you know who Rayla is?” Callum asked when he parted from her.

“Me?” She answered, causing her boyfriend to chuckle a little but rest his forehead against hers, his emerald eyes staring lovingly into her lilac ones.

“More than that.” He replied, his voice now a whisper. “Rayla is strong, caring, selfless, amazing, brave, and very, very beautiful.” He pressed a kiss on her cheek, and when he drew back, not only did he notice that Rayla’s face was now slightly pink, but that there was also a soft, affectionate smile gracing her features. “And that’s why I love her so, so much.” He pecked her lips once more, but when he pulled back he felt Rayla’s four fingered hand cup his jaw, pulling him for a longer, more passionate kiss. 

“Ya sappy dork...” She smiled angelically at him when they drew back for air. “I love ya too…" 

Callum was breathless for a moment when looking at her. The sun made her damp, silvery hair radiate, and her face seemed to shimmer as well, while her blue markings almost glowed.

Gods, she was the most beautiful girl he had even met in his life.

He was about to lean in again, wanting so desperately to just kiss Rayla forever and ever.

But then...

“Awwwww.” Callum froze, looking over Rayla’s shoulder as she turned her head also to see Ezran watching them, holding his hands out in the shape of a heart. "You two are so adorable, you know?" 

“Ezzzz...” Callum felt his face heat up but playfully rolled his eyes at his younger brother, who gave him the thumbs up before getting out and grabbing a towel to dry himself. 

“So much for him ruinin’ the moment, huh?” Rayla smirked as Callum walked out from the pool and set her down.

Yet even when Rayla was on solid surface, she quickly looped her arms around Callum’s neck, resting her forehead against his once more.

“But you know somethin’….I’m also the luckiest elf in the world…”

“Oh? Why’s that?” 

“Because I have such an amazing boyfriend, who’s always noble, true, smart, kind, brave, handsome, supportive, and also…amazing in every other way possible…” She pressed her lips gently on his forehead, and Callum melted into her.

“I love you, Rayla.” He smiled.

“I love ya too, Callum.” She smiled back, lightly pecking his nose.

**Author's Note:**

> Might take a break from one shots and turn my attention to some of my longer rayllum fics now.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed this :)


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